Higher male youth populations correlate with lower GDP values after controls.
Comparing Age population, age 15, male, interpolated with Gross Domestic Product — Value US$ across 181 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.64
- Holding size constant
- -0.57
- Countries compared
- 181
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The initial positive rank correlation may reflect larger economies having more young males, but the reversal after controlling for population and GDP suggests structural factors like education or labor market mismatches. A careful reader should note that correlation does not imply causation, and unmeasured variables (e.g., conflict or migration) could distort the relationship.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. The reversal in correlation after controls highlights how omitted variables can drastically alter perceived relationships.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.